


Apologize

by WldCatSprStr_14



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2015-09-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 04:18:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4773221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WldCatSprStr_14/pseuds/WldCatSprStr_14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is so used to adulting that remembering Daddy's rules can be hard. Daddy isn't pleased.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apologize

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Challenge 4 of the [](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/profile)[summerpornathon](http://summerpornathon.livejournal.com/) : Forbidden. BDSM, Daddy/boi themes. Faceslapping! No beta so please point out any errors!

It’s the end of an incredibly trying, incredibly _long_ day in the office and Merlin just wants to go home. Everyone else in the office has already gone for the weekend; the only person left besides Merlin is the night admin assistant and it’s almost time for her to leave as well. Switching off his computer monitor, Merlin heaves a sigh and looks at the mess on his desk. It will have to wait.

Two new client intakes, three individual sessions, and a session of group therapy was already a rough day; having to stay late, calling in favors to get a recently relapsed client into treatment sapped the last bit of Merlin’s will for the day. The mental health system is fucked and Merlin knows he’s doing the best he can, but he still feels rage every time another hospital tells him they have no beds open. There’s nothing more he can do tonight. It’s time to go home.

Grabbing his messenger bag from the hook on the wall, Merlin turns off the lights and turns to leave his office, only to open the door and find his fiancé standing there, looking almost murderous. It’s only then that it hits Merlin exactly what time of night it is.

Fuck.

‘Daddy…,’ Merlin starts gently, mind already racing to construct the apology that Arthur’s expression tells him will be of no use. This is the second time this week that he’s stayed late at work and forgotten to send an update text home by office close. He is in trouble.

‘Do you think that what is ask you to do is unreasonable,’ Arthur asks, voice quiet and sharp in the empty hallway.

‘No, but--,’ Merlin tries, still attempting to rationalize his mistake, going quiet when Arthur grabs him by the neck and pushes him backward into the dim office. Merlin hears the door close firmly and then it’s just darkness.

_‘There’s only one sound I want to hear out of that mouth of yours.’_

Arthur’s voice is low, deadly serious, and the tone pierces Merlin’s chest through the darkness. Merlin’s heart is pounding and his eyes are burning from the tears already welling up. Arthur’s hand is still around his throat, reassuring and chastising all at once. Merlin knows that Arthur isn’t angry, just tired and disappointed, and the reality has a lump forming in his throat.

_‘I’m sorry, Daddy.’_

Merlin is sobbing in earnest by the last syllable, fat tears dripping down his cheeks and pooling where Arthur’s finger meet his jaw. He feels like a failure. He can’t even follow the simplest rule. Merlin feels them flex imperceptibly and braces himself right before Arthur’s other hand connects with his cheek.

The blow isn’t hard enough to hurt. Just hard enough to get Merlin’s attention and bring him back to ground. Arthur can always tell when Merlin’s mind starts spiraling and this is how he always brings him back. Arthur is the only person Merlin has ever trusted enough to slap him in the face, to _ask_ to slap him in the face; the feeling is a visceral reminder of the connection and the trust between them. Even as the tears continue to fall, Merlin’s mind clears.

Arthur’s grip on his throat loosens and Merlin feels himself being enveloped in Arthur’s arms. The feel and smell of him is overwhelming; the tears don’t stop coming and Merlin realizes just how tired he is and how much he needed Arthur here. How much he needs him now.

 _’May I please apologize,’_ Merlin asks softly, fingers already sliding Arthur’s belt out of its buckle. Merlin has Arthur’s zipper lowered by the time Arthur says _’You may.’_

The weight of Arthur’s cock in his mouth affirms for Merlin that the apologies between them are as much for Merlin as they are for Arthur. He knows he was forgiven in the moment before the slap. Merlin hates nothing more than feeling like he’s failed Arthur—failed _them_ , and the feeling of Arthur’s hand clenched in his hair and Arthur cock pressing into his throat are a reassurance. The scent of Arthur in his nostrils brings Merlin back to who they were before they were _this_ , reminding him that there was a them before this and that his missteps will not undo that.

He is a loved boi. He is cherished boi.

Merlin is still crying as Arthur’s cum coats his tongue.


End file.
